The sound of the NFL draft clock grew louder for the Bengals and new head coach Marvin Lewis on Monday after Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich showed during his indiviual workout he has no lingering effects from the broken tibia he suffered last November.Although there has been scant talk of the Bengals trading the draft's top pick, mainly because of the lack of a suitor willing to pay the price to jump to No.1, an NFL source said Monday that Cincinnati and Tampa Bay have had discussions concerning the pick, and that All-Pro defensive tackle Warren Sapp's name has come up.Both Sapp and defensive tackle Anthony McFarland are entering the final season of their contracts, with the 30-year-old Sapp due to make a base salary of $6.6 million this season and 25-year old McFarland $2.25 million."The Buccaneers may not be able to keep both Sapp and McFarland," said the source. "some people don't fell Sapp is the player he was four years agao, and McFarland is younger."Tampa Bay, according to figures from ESPN.com, is less than $500,000 under this year's $75 million salary cap and that's before it has signed a single draftee. The Buccaneers do not have a first-round draft choice, having dealt that to Oakland last year as part of the deal that allowed them to sign head coach Jon Gruden. The Super Bowl champion Buccaneers don't pick until the end of round two, at No. 64.The Bengals are approximately $5.1 million under the cap but a good portion of that is earmarked for draft picks. Even if a trade for Sapp was made and the Bengals gave up the No. 1 pick, they would either have to clear room for him under the salary cap by cutting platyers or sign him to a new, more cap-friendly deal. Lewis laughted at the notion of a Sapp trade, saying the team has not had any trade discussions with any other clubs."How about that one?" Lewis said. "I don't know where you got your information, but it's bad."

If I'm Tampa, I make this trade as quickly as possible. Any time you can get the top pick for a guy in the last year of his contract, you have to make the deal. With the moves they've made on defense, and Charles Rogers at wide receiver, a repeat is very possible and they could avoid the Dallas/San Francisco/Baltimore team getting old/salary cap dumping of players syndrome and stay near the top of the league for another few years.

There is only one man left to save Vince McMahon and the WWF/E. Where have you gone Greg Gagne, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

Well that report is being vehemently denied here, but it sure is intriguing. With Kitna firmly entrenched now as the QB and looking for a contract extension, the Bengals still can pick up a good QB with their 2nd round pick.

Sapp would give us a potent defensive line and take some pressure off the DBs which is still our glaring defensive weakness.

As a long suffering Bengals fan, I feel quite a bit more comfortable with Lewis in control of the personnel decisions. We shall see though.

First off, I don't think this deal will ever happen in a million years. Warren Sapp is the vocal leader on our defense. Brooks and Lynch both lead by their play, but Sapp is the one who gets the defense hyped up. It would be a huge mistake to send him away for a first round pick. It's just not a good idea to break up the chemistry this team has.

I think when Sapp and McFarland's contracts come up Sapp is going to be the one getting the big money. McFarland has yet to prove himself as a superstar in this league. I'd love to see Sapp and Booger be kept together. And when it comes down to it, I think Sapp will keep his salary at a reasonable level while Booger will most likely be getting not as much as he's worth. But if Booger sticks around he will make the big bucks in the next contract when Sapp retires.

Im sorry but this deal just doesn't make sense to me, The Bucs are in a rae situation of just having won the Super Bowl and being in prime position to repeat if they can keep the team healthy. What are they to gain by trading up to #1, sure they can pick up the QB of the future, but the league is based on winning now. If thats what they are looking for there will be quality available with their second round pick, someone for Gru to groom for a couple years the way he was working with Tui in Oakland. (although I think he may still like King, thats why they have kept him around).As for the cap, sure they don't have much room to sign their drafted players, however by not having a pick till the end of the second round the league set rookie pool won't be very tough to fit in. MOst likely by cutting a Vet or two after June 1st. As far as McFarland and Sapp, they are both in line for contract years, when many players play their best. If Mcfarland can stay healthy we could see an interior tandem that dominates the way Stubblefield and Young did a few years back. (I use this example do to the way they fed off each other and made blocking schemes impossible to set)With Tampa having the option to transition or franchise either one of them, enuring they not only get the monster season but also either the player returns or they get compensation.

As for the Bengals, for all the rumors that I've heard for this pick (trade #1 & Dillon with raiders for #31,2nd rounder and Woodson, Trade #1 with texans for #3 and 3rd round pick) I think the most likely scenerio involves the Lions, thats right, the Texan rumors to trade up to take Rogers are a smoke screen to force Matt Millan to bumble his way to the number one pick to get the player they publically covet. and the Bengals move down only one spot, pick up draft picks (a number 3 most likely)and get the player they want without paying the #1 pick price. Now this assumes alot, namely that the bungles picked up a clue along with marvin Lewis, and the Millan is the worst GM in the NFL now. Well maybe it isn't too much of a stretch.

if "Washington is a Hollywood for ugly people," then, considering the remarks coming out of Tinseltown about Iraq, "Hollywood is a Washington for the simpleminded."John McCain"Iraq will not be defeated" in the war, Iraqie Ambassador Mohsen Khalil told a news conference in Egypt. "Iraq has now already achieved victory - apart from some technicalities."

Originally posted by brickI think the most likely scenerio involves the Lions, thats right, the Texan rumors to trade up to take Rogers are a smoke screen to force Matt Millan to bumble his way to the number one pick to get the player they publically covet. and the Bengals move down only one spot, pick up draft picks (a number 3 most likely)and get the player they want without paying the #1 pick price. Now this assumes alot, namely that the bungles picked up a clue along with marvin Lewis, and the Millan is the worst GM in the NFL now. Well maybe it isn't too much of a stretch.

Your theory would make more sense if Charlie Rogers was head and shoulders above all the receivers in the draft. Andre Johnson has had some massive workouts, and the scouts love his size. The Lions themselves are actually considering taking him instead of Rogers. The main reason they want Rogers is because he's a hometown guy, and it'd make M&M 2 look good to take him. I don't think either the Texans or the Lions would have a problem with taking Johnson. Now if the Bengals were to threaten to take Rogers, then things might get interesting. Of course the Texans could probably afford to draft some help for their god-awful offensive line.

In case of nuclear radiation, stand directly behind your door, but do not open the door, even if the radiation knocks.

Originally posted by UnderwaterYour theory would make more sense if Charlie Rogers was head and shoulders above all the receivers in the draft. Andre Johnson has had some massive workouts, and the scouts love his size. The Lions themselves are actually considering taking him instead of Rogers. The main reason they want Rogers is because he's a hometown guy, and it'd make M&M 2 look good to take him. I don't think either the Texans or the Lions would have a problem with taking Johnson. Now if the Bengals were to threaten to take Rogers, then things might get interesting. Of course the Texans could probably afford to draft some help for their god-awful offensive line.

I hadn't heard that the Lions were now considering Johnson over Rogers, and while he has been a workout hero that hasn't changed the fact that he tends to have a case of the Drops and his poor rout running doesn't translate well into the West coast offense being run in Detroit. You bring up a good point however that the Texans have bigger needs than Rogers and would be more likely to sit tight and take johnson or trade downand get O-line help (although that depends on the health of Boselli, since they have addressed the rest of the line through free adgency and trade.) but thats why I said that that rumor may be a smoke screen to lure the Lions to waste a pick in trade.

if "Washington is a Hollywood for ugly people," then, considering the remarks coming out of Tinseltown about Iraq, "Hollywood is a Washington for the simpleminded."John McCain"Iraq will not be defeated" in the war, Iraqie Ambassador Mohsen Khalil told a news conference in Egypt. "Iraq has now already achieved victory - apart from some technicalities."

Originally posted by lazzzloWell that report is being vehemently denied here, but it sure is intriguing. With Kitna firmly entrenched now as the QB and looking for a contract extension, the Bengals still can pick up a good QB with their 2nd round pick.

Sapp would give us a potent defensive line and take some pressure off the DBs which is still our glaring defensive weakness.

As a long suffering Bengals fan, I feel quite a bit more comfortable with Lewis in control of the personnel decisions. We shall see though.

lazzz

It looks like the Bengals want to take Terence Newman, which is the smart pick for a defense that gave up 30+ points last year, but they do not want to give him a #1 pick style contract. I can't blame them for that. The problem with trading down from #1 is that the QB crop this year is not that good compared with previous years and very few teams are looking to draft a franchise quarterback.

"Newman suffered what was described as a stinger -- or nerve injury -- in his shoulder near the end of last season, but came back to play and play well in the Wildcats' bowl game. The NFL had Newman undergo an MRI in February at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, and he was asked back to town last week for the league's medical re-check process. Another MRI at the re-check showed the injury hasn't improved in the past two months.

Newman is said to have a left auxiliary nerve injury in his shoulder, which produces weakness in the deltoid muscle at the top of the arm. The condition heightens Newman's risk of dislocating the shoulder should he land hard with his arms out to break a fall.

According to a league source close to the situation, the Bengals' medical team reported this week that Newman's shoulder has gotten slightly worse since the Combine. The team graded Newman's shoulder condition as a "2-plus" at the Combine, with 1 being the best grade and 4 being the worst, but that mark was downgraded to a 3 at last weekend's re-check."

I'm pretty sure it will be Palmer for the Bengals. They have the 1st of a couple of voluntary min-camps this weekend and are bringing in Palmer, Newman and Rogers. I know they hope to start negotiations by Monday. Should be interesting.

(edit: sorry about that, I think I broke the frame there,hope the editing fixed it).

lazzz

(edited by lazzzlo on 12.4.03 0433)

(edited by lazzzlo on 12.4.03 0437)"Dawn comes soon enough for the working class".